Abu Sayyaf Commander Killed in Southern Philippines

29 Apr 2017 - 13:12

File Photo: AFP.

QNA

Manila: The Philippine military said Saturday that an Abu Sayyaf commander considered to be one of the most notorious kidnappers has been killed in a clash with government troops in the southern Philippines.

The firefight erupted on Friday while troops were on combat patrol in a village in the town of Indanan on the island of Jolo, 1,000 kilometers south of Manila, a military report said.

Alhabsi Misaya, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf group, was killed in the clash, according to the report.

Misaya has been blamed for kidnapping dozens of Malaysian, Indonesian and Vietnamese seafarers aboard ships passing through the waters between the southern Philippines and its neighbors.

His group beheaded a Malaysian hostage in November 2015, according to the military.

Misaya's killing follows the April 12 death of Abu Sayyaf leader Muammar Askali, who goes by the alias Abu Rami, after he sailed with a group of militants to a central resort island allegedly to conduct kidnappings.

Abu Sayyaf militants are still holding about 20 hostages, including 12 Vietnamese sailors, seven Indonesians and a Dutch man kidnapped in 2012, on the southern island of Jolo, their stronghold.